Prince’s brilliant live shows over the last couple of years – and some of them have been stunning – haven’t quite detracted attention from the elephant in the room: that, like many great artists of his vintage, he hasn’t made a genuinely, unarguably classic album for a very long time.

Last year’s Tour of Britain, won by the young Dutchman Dylan van Baarle, was decided on two days of unbridled racing through the Chilterns and South Downs that went completely counter to the usual structured – critics would say predictable – fare seen in professional road events.